Mike
Panzarella busted out on an incredible hand. He was
looking at a board of Ac 7h 2d, with a pair
of Aces in his hand. Mike bet, but his opponent, Takashi
Takii, re-raised all in. After Panzarella called Takii
flipped over 8c 8h. The final two board cards
came 8d 8s to give Takii four of a kind to
send Panzarella packing. To catch two perfect cards
like that has odds of nearly 1,000-to-1. Hopefully
Panzarella was put on suicide watch for the next 24
hours! What a way to go.

The
total number of players for all four day 1s was 6,358,
down 2,415 players on last yearís 8,773, but still
739 more than when Joe Hachem won it in 2005, representing
massive poker growth in the post-UIGEA poker world.

The
Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act effectively
put a halt to online poker sites making the $10,000
entries into prizes in their online tournaments. Even
if the UIGEA remains in place (and there are many
bodies lobbying for its removal), it should only take
a year or two before entries to the event return to
the record level set in 2006.

This
year first place will win US $8,250,000, substantially
down from last yearís US $12,000,000, but more than
Joe Hachemís US $7,500,000 first prize in 2005. This
year the top 621 places will be paid, all winning
a minimum of $20,320.

Players
eliminated on day 1D included me (sob), Chip Reese,
poker brat Phil Hellmuth (to the cheers and applause
of the other players), 2006 winner Jamie Gold and
Chip Reese.

641
survived of the starting field of 1,783 players. Amongst
them were:

Day
2A, will be played by the 1,032 survivors from days
1A and 1B, and day 2B will be played by the 1,303
survivors from days 1C and 1D. There are 2,335 players
remaining in the tournament from the 6,358 starters.